New Waupun trail provides quality of life, safe access to parks

Bids for the next phase of the Waupun biking/walking trail have been approved by Waupun City Council. The new section of trail will run from Fond du Lac Street along the Rock River to Shaler Park.
(Photo:
Submitted
)

WAUPUN – For years, children and teenagers wanting to visit Fond du Lac County Park on the northwest side of Waupun had to maneuver through heavy traffic on Highway 49 to to get to its popular swimming pool.

The old Depression-era pool is just a memory now and a new aquatic center has taken its place. And, thanks to a new trail system, kids now have smooth and safe access to the park.

The system builds off the paved Terbeest Walking Trail from the County Park along the Rock River to Pine Street Park. Over the past three years, city officials and members of the Waupun Area Recreation Project group have overseen development of a year-round, multiuse trail to connect Terbeest Trail and extend it east along the Rock River corridor across meadows and woodlands and residential streets to Gateway Drive.

A multiuse trail was hailed as one of the community’s top priorities in a 2010 strategic planning session.

Resident Chris Ewerdt said she walks on the trail every day and that its development is a quality of life asset for the community and residents.

“I love that trail and see kids on it all the time. I’m so glad the kids have such a nice trail that allows them to bike safely to the aquatic center,” Ewerdt said. “It’s not too far of a ride from the middle of the city and they’re smart to use it.”

Mayor Kyle Clark said city officials want to connect the trail to Highway 49 and extend it all the way to the Wild Goose Bicycle Trail. Reaching that final destination has required the project to be completed in phases. The first — and one of the most challenging and expensive — has been the elevated boardwalk that runs through a wooded and secluded area off Meadow View Heights Park. To complete that leg of the project, money for the boardwalk and an easement from Edgewood Community Church — for the asphalt portion of the trail — had to be secured.

Clark estimates the cost of that leg of the trail at $500,000.

“So far we’ve received state and federal grants totaling $410,000 with the balance of the funding coming from TIF District monies,” Clark said. “No general purpose tax revenue is being applied to the trails.”

A petition to create a trail across Wisconsin Southern Railroad tracks behind Forest Mound Cemetery was denied by the state Railroad Commissioner’s Office.

“There is, however, a possibility that the railroad could work with the city to run a portion of the trail parallel to the tracks from Edgewood Drive that would allow the trail to continue along the cemetery and through Shaler Park,” Clark said.

Bids for the next stage of the trail were recently approved by the Waupun Common Council. The Council approved a bid for $268,000 that will pick up where the trail leaves off at North Madison Street and lay a paved trail along the Rock River behind Rock River Intermediate School to Fond du Lac Street.

“Eventually we would like to see a segment of the trail along Gateway Drive that would connect to Highway 49 and go all the way out to the Wild Goose Trail,” Clark said.

That’s good news for avid bikers like Mandi Schmitz. The rural Fond du Lac woman says access to the city of Waupun off the state trail would be a boon for bikers who like to hike and camp along state trails.

“I’ve always loved the County Park near Waupun and with the completion of the aquatic center and upgrades to the campgrounds and the cross city trail system, I think you’ll see more biking families like mine making Waupun a destination for the weekend,” Schmitz said. “I wish more communities would invest in a trail system like this. It’s a win-win for both locals and visitors.”